Covered package with releasable initially sealed and locked closure flap



- ,833, WITH RELEASABLE .INITIALLY SEALED AND LOCKED 'CLOSUREFLAP 2Sheets-Sheet 1 1958 F. J. LEFEBVRE COVERED PACKAGE Filed Aug. 15, 19566, 1953 F. J. LEFEBVRE ,833A1 COVERED PACKAGE WITH RELEASABL-EINIVTIIALLY SEALED AND LOCKED CLOSURE FLAP Filed Aug. 13, 1956 2Sheets-Shet 2 COVERED PACKAGE WITH RELEASABLE INI- TIALLY SEALED ANDLOCKED CLOSURE FLAP Frank J. Lefebvre, Caldwell, N. J., assignor toIvers-Lee Company, Newark, N. 1., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationAugust 13, 1956, Serial No. 603,681

2 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) This invention relates to packages of the typeshown in the co-pending application of Lloyd I. Volckening, and John R.OMeara filed April 30, 1954, Serial No. 426,706, for small articles suchas tablets orfor liquid, powder or paste, the package comprising ingeneral an approximately flat rectangular bag, envelope or likecontainer formed of sheet material having a thermoplastic outer coating,and a cover formed of a single strip of material folded around 1 one endof the container and secured to the container adjacent the fold with amarginal end portion of the cover beyond the fold spaced from thecontainer and with the body portion of the cover juxtaposed to one sideof the container and folded around the other end of the container toform a closure flap that is of a size to overlie and cover the side ofthe container opposite said body portion of the cover and has the majorportion of the other end edge tucked between said marginal end portionof the cover and said container and another zone of said end edgemanually separable from said cover strip and initially thermoplasticallysealed to one wall of the container so that the closure flap isinitially held positively against unfolding but can be pulled frombeneath said marginal end portion by manual separation of said zoneafter which the closure flap can be unfolded to open the package.

'While in the package shown in the aforesaid application a strongpositive seal of the closure flap in closed condition is provided toprevent accidental opening of the closure flap'during handling of thepackages, for example,

in the mail or in shipment of the packages in cartons, it

is desirable to obtain an even stronger seal and lock of the closureflap in closed condition. Therefore, a prime object of the presentinvention is to provide a package of the general character describedwherein the closure flap shall be initially sealed and locked in closedposition in a novel and improved manner to provide a strongsimple andinexpensive construction.

Another object is to provide such a package whereinra zone of the endedge of the closure flap, for example, a tongue projecting from saidedge, shall be hooked or folded around the edge of the container andthermoplastically sealed to both of the opposite Walls of the container.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be broughtout by the following description in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which Figure l is a perspective view of thecommodity-container and the cover of the package during the first stepof assembly thereof;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the next step in the assembly ofthe commodity container and the cover;

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view approximatelyon the plane of the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a front perspectiveview of the complete package with theclosure flap in initially sealed and locked condition;

United States Patent o Patented May 6, 1958 Figure 5 is a rearperspective view of the complete package shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view approximatelyon the plane of the line 66 of Figure 4; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view approximately on theplane of the line 77 of Figure 5.

The package is shown as comprising a container A formed of two layers 1and 2 of suitable flexible material such as cellophane, Pliofilm,metallic foil, paper or the like. The said material may be thermoplasticitself or may have a thermoplastic or fusible coating so that thejuxtaposed layers can be caused to adhere together, by

application of heat and pressure, or the layers could be.

sealed together with an adhesive. As shown, the layers are heat sealedand crimped in zones 3 forming and bounding compartments 4 between thelayers inwhicha commodity such as tablets 5 are enclosed, thecontainerthus comprising a sheet of packages, eachcontaining a tablet and beingseparable from the sheet along scored lines 6; and the sheet preferablyhas an edge portion 7.

extending beyond the package and being initially unsealed.

The cover B comprises a single strip of sheet material ple, byapplication of heat and pressure Where the layers.

1 and 2 are thermoplastic or have thermoplastic coatings, the transversemarginal end portion of the flap being spaced from the container.Preferably the sealed zone is also crimped as indicated at 11. The bodyportion 8 of the cover is of approximately the same shape but somewhatlarger than the container A in length and breadth and at the end of thebody portion opposite, the fold 9- there is another fold 12in the striparound the edge or end of the container opposite the attaching edge7,and beyond said fold 12 is a closure flap portion 13 that is of a sizeand shape to overlie and cover the side of the container opposite thebody portion 8 of the cover; and the transverse end edge zone of saidclosurev flap is adapted to tuck into the space between the transversemarginal end portion of the container-attaching flap 10 and thecontainer, as best shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6.

In accordance with the invention, the end edge of the said zone maycomprise the tongue projecting from the end edge of the closure flap andhooked around the edge of the commodity container A and scaled to theouter.

surfaces of both walls of said container. I

" As shown, the end edge of the closure flap has an elongate tongue 14projecting from the end edge thereof about centrally of the length ofsaid edge, said tongue preferably being bent, for example, along ascored line as indicated at 15 intermediate its length from the initialstraight position indicated by dot and dash lines in Figure 1, so thatthe root portion 16 of the tongue may overlie one wall of the edgeportion 7 of the container A while the tip portion 17 of the tongue mayoverlie the other wall of the container at said edge portion 7.

An opening 18 is formed in the cover at the juncture of the body portion8 and the container-attaching flap 10 with one portion 18a of the edgeof the opening lying in the container-attaching flap and the otherportion 18b of the edge of the opening lying in the body portion 8, saidedge portions 18a and 18b thus lying at opposite sides of the fold 9between the body portion and the container-attaching flap.

container-attaching flap 10, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Thereupon, the container-attaching flap is hooked or folded upwardlyover one wall, of the portion 7 of the.

container and the tip portion 17 of the tongueis folded against theopposite wall of the container through the portion 18b of the opening 18that is in register with the portion 18a. Thereupon thecontainer-attaching flap and both the root portions 16 and the tipportions 17 of .the tongue are permanently secured to the container.This may be effected by softening or fusing of the thermoplasticsubstance where the container is formed of material that is itselfthermoplastic or has a thermoplastic coating. The tongue portions 16 and17 may also be crimpedin the same way and at the same time that thecontainer-attaching flap and cover are sealed to the container in thezone 11.

It will be seen that the completed package as shown in Figures 4, and 6has the end edge of the closure flap tucked between. the free marginalportion of the container-attaching flap and the container A, and thatthe tongue is hooked aroundthe edge of the container. that,

the container and the cover are formed of tearable material and when itis. desired to open the package, the tongue and the portion of thepackage to which it is sealed may be torn away by the thumb and indexfinger of the user so as to manually separate the tongue 14' from theclosure flap, whereupon the closure flap may be freely pulled frombeneath the container-attaching flap and swung away from the containerto expose and permit access to the container as indicated by the brokenlines in Figures 5 and 6. It will be observed that the edges of theopening 18 in the attaching flap and in the body portion will serve astearing guides and facilitate the tearing of the tongue and thejuxtaposed portion of the container to which the tongue is sealed. It isdesirable, especially when the materials are not of an easily tearablenature that the.

container walls be weakened as by a scored line 19 and that the tongue14 alsobe weakened transversely adjacent its juncture with the wall'fiapto make it easier to tear the walls of the package and the tongue inremoving the tongue. removed as a whole from the cover where that isdesired.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the cover may beconstructed in diiferent ways and that the form and location of theopening 18 and of the tongue 14 may be widely varied and that othermodifications and changes in the construction and combination of thecover Scoring 19 also permits the container A to be and container may bemade within the spirit and scope of the invention.

To avoid circumlocution, the term commodity-container is used in theappended claims to denote bags, envelopes or the like containing aplurality of articles such as tablets, or a powder, liquid or paste, aswell as assemblages or groups of commodities held together in some otherway, for example, strips of matches.

What I claim is:

1. A package comprising an approximately flat commodity-container havingtwo opposed walls with outer thermoplastic surfaces, and a covercomprising a strip of flexible material having a fold providing a bodyportion with a container-attaching flap, one edge portion of saidcontainer being disposed in said fold in juxtaposition to said bodyportion with one side positively secured to said body portion and withthe other side at least partially covered by and positively secured toat least a part of said container-attaching flap, said body portionhaving a closure flap hinged at the end of the body portion oppositesaid container-attaching flap and of a size and shape to overlie thesecond mentioned side of said container, there being an opening in saidcover extending across said fold and providing registering gaps in saidbody portion and said container-attaching flap through which are exposedportions of both of said outer surfaces of the container, and saidclosure flap having a tongue passing through both of said gaps andhooked over said edge of said container that is exposed in said gaps andthermoplastically sealed to both of said surfaces of the container topositively hold the closure flap in overlying relation to saidcontainer, said closure flap being otherwise free of said container,there being provision for simultaneous manual separation from saidclosure fiap and from said container, respectively, of said tongue andthe part of said container that is sealed to said tongue, thereby torelease said do sure fiap for swinging thereof away from the containerto provide access to the container.

2. A package as defined in claim 1 wherein the provision for manualseparation of said tongue and of said part of the container consists inthe cover and the walls of the container formed of tearable material,the location of the edges of said opening adjacent the juncture of thetongue with the closure flap, and weakened zones in the walls of thecontainer adjacent said edges of the opening so? that said edges of theopening provide guides for tearing from the cover said tongue and theportions of the container walls in said gaps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS728,435 Barnes May 19, 1903 2,035,425 Doll Mar. 24, 1936 2,206,536McLaren July 2, 1940 2,558,996 Ullmann July 3, 1951

